Suicune/GSC
Suicune is found roaming Johto in Gold and Silver, after triggering the encounter in the Burned Tower. In Crystal, it is a static encounter in the Bell Tower. Suicune's legendary status reflects its capabilities; having both Surf and Blizzard available since even before its capture, there is little that can stand between the player and a curbstomp in almost any fight after Suicune is caught. While this may be difficult in Gold and Silver, the static nature of the encounter in Crystal makes Suicune very easy to get, especially if the player waits until after Clair to obtain the Master Ball before heading to the Bell Tower. Suicune is great under each and every possible aspect, and makes the game almost ridiculously easy to play. Important Matchups Johto * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Already got Suicune? Congratulations. OHKO everything with Surf. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): 2HKO Primeape with Surf. Poliwrath takes an average of four hits to go down, but its DynamicPunch is still relatively weak against Suicune. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): OHKO everything with Surf. The Magnemite may have a low survival chance, but their Thunderbolt is only a 3-4HKO either way. * Rocket Executive battle #1 (Team Rocket HQ): OHKO everything with Surf. * Rocket Executive battle #2 (Team Rocket HQ): OHKO everything not called Gloom with Surf. Gloom is 2HKOed, but that is not even remotely an issue. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Seel and Dewgong are either 2HKOed by Return or 3HKOed by Surf. Piloswine is OHKOed by Surf. * Rocket Executive battle #3 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): OHKO all the Koffing with Surf, then 2HKO the Weezing. * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Golbat is OHKOed by Blizzard or 2HKOed by Surf. Surf also OHKOs Magnemite and Quilava, and 2HKOs Haunter and Sneasel. Meganium can be 2HKOed with Blizzard since it knows no STAB moves, while Feraligatr can be weakened gradually with Surf or Return. * Rocket Executive battle #4 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Arbok is 2HKOed by Surf, while Blizzard 2HKOs Vileplume and OHKOs Murkrow. * Rocket Executive battle #5 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Houndour is OHKOed by Surf; Koffing and Houndoom are 2HKOed instead. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Suicune should ideally have Blizzard for this fight, but Return also works. Blizzard and Return combined can 2HKO all three of the Dragonair; Return alone is a 3HKO, which is still sufficient even for the Dragonair that knows Thunderbolt, which remains weaker than Return due to Suicune's great bulk. Kingdra is averagely 4HKOed by Blizzard, whereas Return takes upwards of five turns, but it can only 4HKO with Hyper Beam in return, and the move takes two turns. * Rival (Victory Road): Surf 2HKOs everything on the rival's team except Meganium or Feraligatr. Meganium can be 2HKOed by Blizzard long before Razor Leaf, an average 4HKO, becomes a problem; Feraligatr can be whittled down with Return. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Blizzard is an easy 1-2HKO against the two Xatu and a 2HKO against Exeggutor, while Jynx is 2HKOed by Return. Return can also be used to wear down Slowbro, though a switch may be needed if it starts spamming Curse, which makes Body Slam more powerful than Suicune's moves. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Surf 2HKOs Ariados, Venomoth and Forretress; Crobat is best 2HKOed with a combination of Blizzard and Surf. Muk is 3HKOed instead. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Onix is OHKOed by Surf and all three of the Hitmons are 2-3HKOed by it; none of their moves are strong enough to threaten Suicune. Machamp is only 3HKOed, but can do no better even with Cross Chop. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Umbreon is 3HKOed by Surf; an X Accuracy is recommended, if it starts spamming Sand-Attack and/or Confuse Ray. Vileplume can be 2HKOed with Blizzard before Petal Dance becomes a problem; the move also OHKOs Murkrow. Surf also 2HKOs Houndoom and 2-3HKOs Gengar but, against the latter, paralysis or other such strategies are required: if Gengar goes first, its Destiny Bond can end Suicune. * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Suicune should preferably not fight against Gyarados; damage variation makes it possible for Suicune to weaken it just enough to make its Flail very powerful, since neither Blizzard nor Return can do any better than a modest 3-4HKO. Blizzard does, however, OHKO the level 47 Dragonite and also has an OHKO chance against the ace. Charizard is 2HKOed by Surf. Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Surf 2HKOs Omastar and Kabutops and OHKOs all the rest. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Sneasel, Magneton, Gengar and Alakazam are all 2HKOed by Surf, with or without the rain. Typhlosion is 2HKOed without the rain, and OHKOed with it. Golbat and Meganium are 2HKOed by Ice Beam or Blizzard. Feraligatr takes several turns to beat, but is harmless. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Suicune can take down Golduck, Lapras and Starmie with Return, but takes several turns to do so, especially considering Lapras' Perish Song and Starmie's Confuse Ray and Recover; a better Pokémon is recommended, particularly against Starmie, which could make the fight into a stall war. Quagsire is easily 2-3HKOed with Surf. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Suicune may manage to do some work in this gym, but not without risks. It needs to use Rain Dance against Raichu, which makes Surf a 2HKO (otherwise a 3HKO), but also makes Thunder 100% accurate; if Suicune outspeeds and Raichu starts with a different move, Suicune can win, but not otherwise. It is recommended to have a PrzcureBerry equipped, as well, since Raichu's second most likely move after Thunder is Thunder Wave. If Suicune is above half health and the rain is still active after Raichu is beaten, it can take down one of the Electrode or Magneton, providing that Surf 2HKOs the former or OHKOs the latter; in order to beat Electabuzz, Suicune needs to both outspeed and be over 60% of its health, since it will have to survive a Thunder. This is also only possible with Rain Dance on, as Surf otherwise only 3HKOs Electabuzz. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Ice Beam has OHKO chances against Tangela, while Blizzard is guaranteed to OHKO; Victreebel is 2HKOed by both, which is not an issue, since its Razor Leaf is fairly weak. Jumpluff is OHKOed even by just Ice Beam. Bellossom is 2HKOed by Blizzard and 2-3HKOed by Ice Beam, but is better off fought by another Pokémon if Sunny Day is up, as the move both cuts Blizzard's accuracy to 50% and allows Bellossom to fire SolarBeam without charging, which is a likely 2HKO against Suicune. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Crobat is a highly likely OHKO with Blizzard, but only a 2HKO with Surf or Ice Beam. Surf also 2HKOs the rest of Janine's team; a Rain Dance setup makes OHKOs very likely. Suicune should be kept above half health while fighting the Weezing if Rain Dance is not active, as their Explosion can cause considerable damage. * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): A Rain Dance setup allows the Surf 2HKO against all of Sabrina's Pokémon. * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): Since Magcargo does not know Sunny Day, it is advised to use Rain Dance against it. This will make Surf an OHKO against all of Blaine's team. * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Suicune can 2HKO Pidgeot with either Ice Beam, a combination of Blizzard and Surf, or Rain Dance and then Surf. Rain Dance is very helpful against Alakazam, which is otherwise only 3HKOed by Surf; the weather condition mutates that into a 2HKO, bypassing Alakazam's Recover. Surf OHKOs Rhydon with or without the rain, while Arcanine is always 2HKOed, though Rain Dance gives a small OHKO chance. Suicune may also fight Gyarados, since Blizzard can match up to Hyper Beam considering the recharge turn; however, as Blizzard is a 4-5HKO, Suicune will need PP restorers during the fight, or HP restorers and then continuing with Surf. Exeggutor may only be 2HKOed by the inaccurate Blizzard, and is thus best fought by other Pokémon. * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Suicune should use Rain Dance on the first turn; the move guarantees a Surf 2HKO against Sneasel, Magneton, Gengar and Alakazam, and a 1-2HKO against Typhlosion. Crobat and Meganium can be 2HKOed with Blizzard or 3HKOed with Ice Beam; even Ice Beam is a viable option, since Meganium's Giga Drain barely hits the 4HKO range. Suicune is unlikely to beat Feraligatr; even with Return, Feraligatr's combination of Screech and Slash will eventually outpower it. * Red (Mt. Silver): Suicune can take two Thunders from Pikachu and 2HKO it with Surf, though better counters are recommended, in order to keep Suicune's health high for the rest of Red's Pokémon. Espeon is 3HKOed by the move, whereas Charizard is 2HKOed. Return is best against Blastoise, but Surf is also sufficient, since Blastoise itself does not have any better weapons to hit Suicune with; Snorlax can theoretically be beaten with multiple Surfs, but its Rest makes that hard without any healing at all. Lastly, Blizzard is highly likely to 2HKO Venusaur, though this is not recommended if it puts up Sunny Day: it makes Blizzard much less reliable at a measly 50% accuracy, and SolarBeam is a guaranteed 2HKO. Ice Beam is not strong enough to 2HKO, either. Moves In Gold and Silver, Suicune's initial moveset consists of Leer, Water Gun, Roar and Gust; in Crystal, instead, it knows Leer, BubbleBeam, Rain Dance and Gust. It learns BubbleBeam at level 41 in Gold and Silver, whereas in Crystal, it gets Aurora Beam at the same level. The last three moves are the same for all games: there is Mist at level 51, which is not that useful; Mirror Coat at level 61, which can potentially work in strategic stall sets, though Suicune is more than capable of dealing damage on its own; and lastly, Hydro Pump at level 71, which can be considered as an upgrade to Surf, though at the expense of sacrificing the otherwise perfect accuracy. Suicune's coverage is much better in Crystal than Gold and Silver. Its Ice options in the first pair of games are limited to Icy Wind, which is underpowered at best, and Blizzard, which is inaccurate. In Crystal, instead, it can hold out fine with Aurora Beam until the postgame, when better options come around. Surf is essentially mandatory, as it is on any Water Pokémon. The remaining slots can be filled with a physical move or status moves; Rain Dance is available even to Gold and Crystal players, as a TM, and Suicune is also good for stall with Toxic, though this move is only accessible in Kanto. Suicune's best available physical option is Return, though Dig or Iron Tail can also be used for coverage. Any Crystal Suicune should be taught Ice Beam by the move tutor, which is a great coverage move. Recommended moveset: Surf, Icy Wind and Silver / Blizzard and Silver / Ice Beam Crystal, Return, Rain Dance / Mirror Coat Recommended Teammates * Grass-types: There are very few enemies a Suicune cannot face, mostly Grass- or Electric-types. Grass-types counter them best, especially dual Grass/Poison-types, which can benefit from the secondary STAB to hit their colleagues for super effective damage. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Meganium, Vileplume, Bellossom, Exeggutor (Crystal only) Suicune will realistically not need any other teammate except a good Grass-type. Alternatively, a good Grass-type counter and a good Electric-type counter can both be selected. Other Suicune's stats * How good is Suicune in a Nuzlocke? Simply put, it is one of the best possible Pokémon a player can have. It can match up to almost anything, even some Grass- and Electric-types, which many other Water-types would not be able to beat. Catching Suicune is a ticket to victory in almost any battle. * Weaknesses: Grass, Electric * Resistances: Steel, Fire, Water, Ice * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Psychic, Dragon, Dark Category:Gold/Silver/Crystal Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses Category:Legendary Pokémon